July 10, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 42
Special Education
Brave New World
Middle school is hard enough. Imagine what it's like for a child with Down syndrome. Sixth grader Chris Vogelberger found out last year.
Education Funding
Illinois Budget Trims Funds For K-12, Higher Education
With the state's economy hemorrhaging, Illinois officials said they had no choice but to perform surgery with a blunt scalpel on the education budget for next year.
Education
State Journal
Return to Sender
During these days of tin-cup state budgets and bleak economic forecasts, many programs that help college-bound students have trouble scraping together funds. But Texas, according to a recent report, seems to have a different problem: millions of dollars going unspent.
Education Funding
Ore. Plan Would Mitigate School Budget Cuts
During its third special session of the 2002 fiscal year the Oregon legislature approved a budget plan that may restore some school money lawmakers had earlier slashed. Yet even with those changes, Oregon's budget troubles are unlikely to go away.
Education
Federal File
Decoding ESEA
How easy things would have been if only Congress had handed out magic decoder rings when it passed the 1,100-page tome known as the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001.
Education
In the Court's Words
Here are excerpts from the majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court's June 20 decision in Gonzaga University v. Doe, a case involving enforcement of the privacy of student records:
Majority Opinion | Concurring Opinions | Dissenting Opinion
School Choice & Charters
Bishops Require Background Checks for Priests in Catholic Schools
Local policies on screening personnel for past convictions for sexual abuse could change at some Roman Catholic schools as a result of the Catholic bishops' recent approval of a new policy to curtail the sexual abuse of minors by priests.
School & District Management
Training Sessions Help Urban School Boards Lead Change
Through his Center for Reform of School Systems in Houston, Donald R. McAdams is trying to get school boards to look beyond their districts' immediate concerns and see a bigger picture.
Early Childhood
Early-Childhood Advocates Seek A Stronger Alliance With Higher Ed.
Forging new alliances with the nation's colleges and universities was a front-and-center theme at a June 24 gathering of early-childhood education experts.
Teaching Profession
NEA Delegates Select Seasoned Union Veteran As Their Next President
Consummate teachers' union veteran Reg Weaver overwhelmingly won election last week to the National Education Association's highest post, defeating Los Angeles union activist Denise Rockwell for president.
Education
Voucher Battles Head To State Capitals
The foundation has been laid for a new round of legislative battles over school vouchers in state capitals from coast to coast.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Mass Drops Cash Bonuses for Master Teachers' Program
- Federal Judge Reverses Ariz. Ruling
- Pa. Court Approves Cyber Charters
- Ga. Again Faces Scoring Woes
- Study: Mich. Charters Better With Age
- Miss. Names New Schools Chief
- Ariz. Auditor Finds Flaws in Project
Law & Courts
Privacy Law Not a Courtroom Matter, Justices Decide
The U.S. Supreme Court has closed the courthouse door to parents and students seeking to sue school districts in disputes over the privacy of education records. Includes "In the Court's Words," excerpts from the court's opinions.
School Choice & Charters
Department Seeks to Clarify ESEA School Choice Mandates
Lest any reader miss it, Secretary of Education Rod Paige resorted last month to bold and italicized print to make perfectly clear a key point about the new federal education law: "[T]he new choice requirements must be implemented beginning this fall."
Lest any reader miss it, Secretary of Education Rod Paige resorted last month to bold and italicized print to make perfectly clear a key point about the new federal education law: "[T]he new choice requirements must be implemented beginning this fall."
Equity & Diversity
Rules on Hiring by Religious Groups at Issue
Democratic politicians and some education groups are sparring with the Department of Education over civil rights protections specifically included—or excluded, the agency says—in the "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001.
School Choice & Charters
Ruling Gives Second Wind To Capitol Hill Voucher Advocates
The hubbub outside the U.S. Supreme Court building had barely died down late last month before the action shifted to the big white dome across Capitol Hill's First Street.
Education
Leadership
Hands-On Learning
With mayors playing an ever more active role in the affairs of their cities' schools, a new effort is under way to help them share with one another some of what they've learned.
Federal
Former Education Secretary Makes Run for U.S. Senate
If Lamar Alexander succeeds in his bid for the U.S. Senate, he will be the first education secretary to serve in Congress, or to go on to any elected office after serving in that Cabinet post.
If Lamar Alexander succeeds in his bid for the U.S. Senate, he will be the first education secretary to serve in Congress, or to go on to any elected office after serving in that Cabinet post.
School & District Management
Test Scores Still on Upswing In Urban School Districts, Report Finds
Test scores continue to climb in urban school districts, some of which are making greater gains on math and reading assessments than their state averages, a report concludes.
Social Studies
Pledge of Allegiance In the Legal Spotlight
The decision stunned educators and parents in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, Calif. In Portland, Ore., district officials said it would have little effect on schools. And for some 23,000 students in Quaker schools, the recent ruling by a federal appeals court struck at a practice their own schools reject as a matter of principle.
Education
Correction
A story about a federal report on teacher quality in the June 19, 2002, issue of Education Week ("Paige Uses Report as a Rallying Cry to Fix Teacher Ed.,") misspelled the name of Penelope M. Earley of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- U.S. Appeals Court Backs Ban on Columbine Religious Tiles
- Seattle Parents File Lawsuit Over Report Card Changes
- Federal Judge Ends Oversight of Prince George's, Md., Schools
- Checking Underwear at Dance Costs Administrator Her Post
- East Detroit, Mich., Board Member Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charge
- Boston School Board Repeals Plan for English-Language Learners
- Deaths
Education
Justices Settle Case, Nettle Policy Debate
The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling upholding the Cleveland voucher program has rejuvenated the school choice movement and, to a surprising degree, reinvigorated the debate over how best to improve the education of all the nation's schoolchildren.
Law & Courts
Supreme Court Allows Expansion Of Schools' Drug-Testing Policies
Education officials say they don't see most school districts suddenly crafting new drug-testing policies just because the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld such testing of students in a wide range of extracurricular activities. Includes "In the Court's Words," excerpts from the court's opinions.
School Choice & Charters
Catholics Laud Voucher Decision, See Potential for Growth
Steve Behr, a pastor ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, became a plaintiff in the case challenging the Cleveland voucher program because he believed it was "bad theology" for religious schools to take vouchers.
Education
Former Aide to Clinton To Replace the Founding President of Achieve
Achieve, which was founded by governors and corporate executives following the 1996 national education summit to help states pursue standards-based education, will soon be experiencing a change in leadership.
School Choice & Charters
Studies Cite Segregation In Private Schools
Students in private schools are more likely to attend racially segregated classrooms than students in public schools are, according to a new study by University of Arkansas researchers.